Transfer Payments Hit $3 Trillion Annual Pace

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Total government transfers reached $3 trillion on an annualized basis for the first time in September, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Monday.

Transfer payments include benefits paid by insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare and means-tested programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Americans will receive about 20 percent of their overall incomes from such transfer payments in 2018, Bloomberg’s Alexandre Tanzi said.

Social Security payments account for the largest share of government transfer payments (see the chart below), followed by Medicare and Medicaid.